White House Condemns ‘Racially Motivated’ Attack on Indians

Spokeswoman says racially or religiously motivated attacks have no place in America.

The White House on Tuesday condemned a shooting attack in a Kansas bar that left one Indian man dead and another wounded as an apparent act of “racially motivated hatred.”

After criticism that Donald Trump had not spoken about the attack—which happened a week ago—the White House said the president did indeed condemn the attack.

“As more facts come to light and it begins to look like this was an act of racially motivated hatred, I want to reiterate the president condemns these or any other racially or religiously motivated attacks in the strongest terms” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. “They have no place in our country.”

Sanders said the president might raise the issue during his maiden address to Congress later Tuesday.

The comments came as grieving family and friends in Hyderabad mourned 32-year-old engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead by a U.S. Navy veteran. A second Indian engineer was injured by the white man, who allegedly screamed “Get out of my country” as he opened fire at a bar in Olathe.

The shooting has made headlines in India and the United States, amid concerns that the hardline immigration policies of Trump may have created the climate for such an attack. That allegation has been described as “offensive” by White House staff.

The Times of India said in an editorial on Monday that the shooting had shocked the Indian community in the U.S. and urged Trump to “make it clear that such hate is not acceptable in his America.”